Cutter Morning Star seeks 8.4-mill rise

New high school, gym proposed; district also asks for extension of 15.5 mills

The Cutter Morning Star School District wants 8.4 new debt-service mills and the extension of 15.5 existing mills for construction of a new high school and gymnasium.

The district will ask voters in the annual school election on Sept. 19 to issue $10.255 million in construction bonds through 2047. The measure will include a request to extend the 15.5 current debt-service mills to 2047, 12 years beyond their current expiration date.

The proposed increase would give the district a millage rate of 48.9. Cutter Morning Star's current millage of 40.5 is third-highest in Garland County, behind Hot Springs, 42.1, and Lake Hamilton, 40.6. The state average as of the 2016 election was 37.9 mills.

The 8.4-mill change would increase a resident's real estate tax by $14 per month and $168 per year in a home with an appraised value of $100,000.

School Board members voted to pursue the increase during their regular monthly meeting on June 21.

Superintendent Nancy Anderson said the district is pursuing the increase now after it was approved for a total of more than $6.266 million in funding through the state's Academic Facilities Partnership Program. The projects and the funding were approved by the Commission for Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation.

"We did not want to go to the voters, obviously, until we knew we had the funding secured from the state," Anderson said.

The district was notified of the approval on May 1. Anderson said the district reapplied in the latest round of funding after it was approved for a smaller area two years before.

"The way our high school is built, it is built in phases," Anderson said. "When we went for the partnership funding two years ago, the state department only gave us 50,000 square feet, which was not enough to build a new high school. We went back this last cycle and asked for additional square footage."

The project includes the construction of a new high school for 307 students in grades 7-12 on property owned by the district next to the current campus. The existing high school would be taken out of service. The total budget for the project is based on a cost factor of $175 per square foot.

Original approval from the state provided more than $5.171 million in partnership funds for 51,211 square feet of the project. The district is eligible for partnership funding for 63,799 square feet after a second approval provided almost $1.1 million for a 12,588-square-foot portion of 15,778 square feet of "academic core space."

The total budget for the project is $14,463,575. Cutter Morning Star would be responsible for $8,197,493.99. The $10.255 million in construction bonds would be used for building and equipping the new high school, as well as building, refurbishing, remodeling and equipping other school facilities.

Enrollment at Cutter Morning Star High School averaged 280 students over the past six years. The school averaged more than 350 students during the seven years before that.

Cutter Morning Star Elementary School's official enrollment was 305 students in the 2016-17 school year and 296 in 2015-16. The school averaged more than 325 students in the 11 previous years, with a low of 304 in the 2012-13 school year and a high of 344 in 2009-10.

A new gym will be a significant component of the project. Cutter Morning Star's current high school gym was built in 1969.

Anderson said the district faces a number of issues with the gym, including leaks, the fire alarm system and roofing.

State Desk on 07/03/2017

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